COMPLAINT / GRIEVANCE POLICY

3500

Any individual(s) shall be able to bring a complaint against the School by submitting a letter of complaint explaining the reason(s) for the complaint and the remedy sought.  The letter of complaint shall be addressed to the School’s Director who shall investigate and make a decision regarding any such complaint.  The letter of complaint may be hand delivered, mailed or sent by overnight carrier to: Director, Discovery Charter School, 133 Hoover Drive, Rochester, NY, 14615, or in the alternative via email to: contact@rochesterdiscovery.com

Pursuant to NY law, if the individual(s) is/are not satisfied with the School Director’s decision/response to the complaint, then the individual(s) shall be able to bring the complaint to the School’s Board of Trustees for decision by submitting a letter of appeal of the School Director’s response/decision to the Chairman of the Board of Trustees.  Said letter of appeal may be hand delivered, mailed or sent by overnight carrier to: Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Discovery Charter School, 133 Hoover Drive, Rochester, NY 14615, or in the alternative via email to: contact@rochesterdiscovery.com.  The letter of appeal should contain a statement of the complaint including the provision(s) of the School’s charter or law that is/are alleged to have been violated, and should include copies of all relevant correspondence and/or documentation.  Any appeal of the School Director’s decision/response to a complaint shall be addressed by the Board of Trustees at the first Regular Board meeting following receipt of the letter of appeal, provided that the letter of appeal is received no later than seven (7) days prior to said next Regular Board meeting.  In the event the letter of appeal is not received within said time-frame, then the appeal shall be heard at the following Regular Board meeting.

Pursuant to NY law, any individual(s) who is/are not satisfied with the Board of Trustees decision of an appeal of the School Director’s decision/response to a complaint shall be able to appeal the Board of Trustees decision to the New York State Board of Regents.  The Board of Regents has delegated the authority to the Commissioner of Education to handle complaints brought to the Regents concerning charter schools.  All complaints brought to the Board of Regents/Commissioner concerning charter schools must be submitted in writing to the State Education Department’s Charter School Office, either via mail at: Charter School Office, NYS Education Department, 89 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12234, or via email to: charterschools@nysed.gov.  The subject line of the email should read: Complaint: Discovery Charter School.

The contents of the letter/email should include:

• A detailed statement of the complaint including the provision of the School’s charter or law that you allege has been violated.
• What, if any, response you received from the School’s Board of Trustees (and the School’s Charter Entity in the case of schools not authorized by the Board of Regents).
• Copies of all relevant correspondence between you and the School and you and the Charter Entity if applicable. (You should maintain copies of all correspondence and materials for your own files.)
• What specific action or relief you are seeking.
• Contact information for you – name, address, email address, telephone number.

NB:  This policy is found in Article IX of the Bylaws

Approved by the Board of Trustees

May 12, 2011

Revised by the Board of Trustees

April 27, 2017